Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Search Recommendation, E-commerce

San Jose, California, US Until 8/21/2026 5+ years exp H-1B sponsor history First posted April 7, 2026 Last posted April 7, 2026
Job description

Description

About the Team:
The Search Growth E-commerce team is at the forefront of developing the search recommendation algorithm for TikTok's rapidly expanding global e-commerce enterprise. Utilizing cutting-edge machine learning technology, advanced NLP, CV, recommendation, and multi-modal technology, we're shaping a pioneering engine within the industry. Our objective is to deliver the ultimate e-commerce search experience to over 1 billion active TikTok users worldwide. Our mission: to create a world where "there are no hard-to-sell, overpriced products."

Responsibilities - What You'll Do:
- Elevate search recommendation services and models for TikTok E-commerce, driving heightened e-commerce search traffic on both TikTok and TikTok Mall, while enhancing user search and purchasing cognition.
- Optimize the recommender system, focusing on hyperscale machine learning models. This involves diverse tasks spanning recall/first-stage ranking to final-stage ranking within the end-to-end workflow.
- Push the boundaries of short text and general recommendation technology, with a specific emphasis on the interaction between recommendation and NLP technology.
- Provide guidance and mentorship to fellow teammates.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:
- 5+ years of work experience in machine learning. Good product sense with a focus on user experience and E-commerce business.
- Domain knowledge or working experience in any of these areas: modern Recommendation, Search, Advertisement, E-commerce.
- Bachelor or advanced degree in computer science or a related technical discipline.
- Excellent coding skills. Solid knowledge of data structure and algorithms.
- Excellent in analysis, modeling and problem-solving, and can see the essence of problems from complex data.

About this role

Summary

Develop and optimize search recommendation models for TikTok's e-commerce platform, focusing on NLP and machine learning.

Job title

Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Search Recommendation, E-commerce

Experience level

5+ years

Minimum experience

5+ years exp

Industry

software

Location requirements

Must be located in or near San Jose, CA, USA, with remote allowed.

Salary

Not specified

Visa sponsorship

H-1B sponsor history

Management role

No

Skills & keywords

Required skills

machine learningdata structuresalgorithmscoding

Preferred skills

None specified

Specializations

machine learningrecommendationNLPCVmulti-modal
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

San Jose, CA, USA

Hybrid City